Prosecuting solicitor Angela Hadfield said: “A Citroen Berlingo van was seen on Barlborough Road, Clowne, and it turned into Crown Street without indicating and it came to a stop after colliding with a wall.”

Hadfield pleaded guilty during the hearing on October 4 to exceeding the alcohol drink-drive limit after registering 66microgrammes of alcohol in 100millilitres when the legal limit is 35microgrammes.

Defence solicitor David Gittins said: “He accepts driving from a friend’s house where he had been drinking alcohol and should have taken an alternative form of transport.

“He has set up a maintenance building business. He’s a joiner by background and he has numerous contacts who were willing to employ him.

“He had sold his vehicle to buy a van and bought new equipment and had started promotional work to assist his business.

“But he knows losing his driving licence means his business has failed before it got off the ground after he has worked six months to get his finances in place.

“He will have to put it on the back-burner until the driving ban has expired. He had work in place and he will have to let these people down.”

Magistrates fined Hadfield £500 and ordered him to pay a £50 victim surcharge and £85 costs after the incident on September 16.

He was disqualified from driving for 17 months but this ban can be reduced by a quarter if Hadfield completes a drink-drive rehabilitation course.